SALT LAKE CITY — The only time Andre Miller got off the end of the Spurs' bench Tuesday night was to encourage or congratulate his teammates when they came off the court during a timeout.
Or at the end of the game, which San Antonio won 88-86 in a nail-biter.
No playing time for Miller? Well, that's sure a far cry from what the former University of Utah star has done during his lengthy and solid NBA career. Or, for that matter, what he and his Utah teammates did 18 years ago last week.
On March 28, 1998, Miller — then a junior guard for the Utes — helped lead his team to the NCAA tournament title game with a 65-59 victory over No. 1-seeded North Carolina.
Miller had 16 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists in that game and the nation took notice, especially coming on the heels (no pun intended) of his amazing 18-point, 14-rebound, 13-assist performance a week earlier, when the Utes rocked defending national champion Arizona 76-51 to reach the Final Four.
Two days after beating the Tar Heels, the Utes held a double-digit halftime lead over Kentucky in the national championship game before running out of gas in the second half and dropping a 78-69 decision to their longtime NCAA nemesis.
Miller had 16 points and five assists in the title game and, after a stellar senior season at Utah, where he was named a first-team All-American, he was taken by the Cleveland Cavaliers with the eighth pick in the 1999 NBA draft.
Since then, Miller has played for nine different teams over his 17 NBA seasons, including two separate stints with the Denver Nuggets. He ranks ninth in NBA history in career assists with 8,495 and owns career averages of 12.6 points, 6.6 assists, 3.7 rebounds and 1.2 steals a game in 1,291 career games — which puts him 20th all-time.
Miller, who turned 40 last month, might finally have a chance for his first NBA championship this year with San Antonio, which signed him Feb. 29 after he was released by the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Ironically, Miller and the Utes played the 1998 Final Four in San Antonio at the Alamodome — which then served as the Spurs' home court — so I guess you could say that Miller's stellar career has come full circle.
EMAIL: rhollis@desnews.com